" When he
arrived before the fortress, he sent a trumpeter to proclaim to those
within that they must yield it to their rightful sovereign, the King of
Navarre, in which case they would save their lives and goods, but if the
place had to be taken by assault they would have no mercy.

The Spaniards were valiant men and loyal subjects of the King of Spain,
and they made reply that they would not yield the fortress and still less
themselves. Upon this Bayard put his artillery in position and made such
good use of it that a breach was soon made in the walls, but it was high up
and not easy to make use of. The Good Knight then sounded the order to
assault and commanded the "landsknechte" to advance. Their interpreter said
that it was their rule, when a place was to be taken by assault, that they
should have double pay. The Good Knight would have nothing to do with their
rules, but he promised that if they took the place they should have what
they asked for. But not a single man of them would mount the breach.
Thereupon Bayard sounded the retreat, and then made an attack with the
artillery as though he wished to enlarge the breach, but he had another
plan. He called one of his men-at-arms, by name Little John, and said to
him: "My friend, you can do me a good service which will be well rewarded.
You see that tower at the corner of the castle; when you hear the assault
begin take ladders, and with thirty or forty men scale that tower, which
you will find undefended." So it turned out, for all the garrison went to
defend the breach, while Little John and his men mounted the tower unseen
and cried out, "France! France! Navarre! Navarre!" The defenders, finding
themselves assailed on every side, did their best; but the castle was soon
taken, and the whole place was pillaged and left in charge of the King of
Navarre's men.

In this year, 1513, died Julius II., the great warrior Pope, a constant foe
to the French, and he was succeeded by the Cardinal dei Medici, Pope Leo X.

Louis XII., having most reluctantly withdrawn his troops from Italy, now
prepared to meet an invasion of Picardy by the English. He sent a large
body of troops to the assistance of the lord of Piennes, Governor of
Picardy, commanded by the finest captains of the kingdom, and amongst these
was Bayard. In the month of June 1513 a large army had landed with Henry
VIII. near Calais; a most convenient place for the invasion of France, as
it was in possession of the